Automatic stator winding machine and process



AUTOMATIC sTAToR wINDING MACHINE AND PRocEss Fild Feb. 16, 1961 H. W. MOORE July 6, 1965 13 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

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HIS TTOZN E VS AUTOMATIC sTAToR WINDING MACHINE AND PRocEss Filed Feb. 16, 1961 H. W. MOORE July 6, 1965 l5 Sheets-Sheet 2 N .UFHII 3,192,961 AUTOMATIC sTATon wINDING MACHINE AND PRocEss Filed Feb. 16. 1961 H. W. MOORE July 6, 1965 13 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. HEEY W M0066 BY i TIE 18 HIS T TOENEYS 3,192,961 AUTOMATIC sTAToR WINDING MACHINE AND PROCESS Filed Feb. 16, 1961 H. W. MOORE July 6, 1965 13 Sheets-Sheei 4 H/ s nrToeA/EYS AUTOMATIC STATOR WINDING MACHINE AND PROCESS Filed Feb. 1s,l 1961 v vH. W. MOORE July 6, 1965 13 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVEN TOR. HZFV W A400466' HIS HTTOE/VEVS AUTOMATIC sTAToR' WINDING MACHINE AND PRocEss Filed Feb. 16, 1961 July 6, 1965 13 Sheets-Sheet 6 INV EN TOR. H1416@ Y n( M OP AUTOMATIC vSTA-'TOR WINDING MACHINE AND PROCESS Filed Feb.'1e. 1961 H'. w. MooRE July 6, 1965 13 Sheets-Sheet '7 :Marl

INV EN TOR. H/FZV W M0966 BY om Ww HIS .TTEA/EYS July 6, 1965 H. w. MOORE 3,192,961

AUTOMATIC' STATOR WINDING MACHINE AND PROCESS Filed Feb. 16. 1961 13 sheets-sheet s INVENTOR. H/leey m M0065 July s, 1965 H. w. MOORE 3,192,961

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AUTOMATIC STATOR WINDING HCHINE AND PROCESS July 6, 1965 13 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed Feb. 1e. 1961 .MEW

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INI/JIaNToR.K H/leevw Monge BY f gl/3 H. W. MOORE July 6, 1965 AUTOMATIC STATOR WINDING MACHINE AND PROCESS Filed Feb. 16, 1961 13 Sheets-Sheet 13 JIE. Z 7

3,192,961 AUIUMA'IIS S'IAIQR WINDING MACIHNE AND PROCESS Harry W. Moore, 5051 Kittridge Road, Dayton, Ohio Filed Feb. 16, 1961, Ser. No. 89,804 23 Claims. Y (Cl. 14h-92.1)

This invention relates to a system for mass producing stators.` More particularly, this invention relates to a coil winding process and machine uilizinga dummy lield member into which coils are deposited, the coils Ysubsequently being transferred from the dummy iield member to a stator frame. The stator so produced has a'novel arrangement of coils. It is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily so limited. The term stator is used herein for convenience. The invention will be described with'reference to a stator for a rotating-field alternator. Those skilled in the art will realize, however, that the invention disclosed herein may be used to provide any of numerous electro-magnetic devices with field or current carrying coils.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved .process for winding stators. Y

Another object of this inveniton is to provide a stator having a novel arrangement of current carrying coils.

Another object of this invention is the provision of automatically and continuously operable mechanisms for the mass production of stator assemblies.

The coil winding process described herein utilizes one or more dummy field members mounted upon an arbor, the dummy field members having coil-receiving slots which are loaded with coils by a coil winding machine. After the dummy field members have been loaded with coils, the arbor is transferred to a coil transferring Amachine operable to pull the coils from the dummy fieldy members into the coil-receiving slots in a stator frame. Subsequently, the stator frame is moved from the coil Winding machine to a Wedge inserting machine which inserts coil retaining and insulating wedges into lthe stator slots. The stator frame provided with coils and wedges is then placed in a coil former. The function of the coil former is to flatten or squeeze the coils on the stator frame into a predetermined shape for use in an alternator, motor or the like.

A more specific object of this invention is the provision of automatically operable conveying mechanisms capable of rapidly and accurately conveying a dummy ield member from a coil winding machine to a coil transferring machine while simultaneously transferring a stator through various stages of assembly.

Y Other objects and advantages reside in the construction of parts, the `combination thereof, the method of manufacture and the mode of operation, as will become more apparent from the following description. Y

Referring to .the drawings: p

FIGURE 1 is a perspective'view of an automatic stator assembling machine made in accordance with this invention. In FIGURE 1 and in many other gures, portions of the machine are broken away or omitted to disclose details thereof.

FIGURE 2 is a schematic illustration of the paths the arbors and the stator frames follow in the machine shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURES 3 through 15 disclose details of the mechanism for conveying and positioning arbors having dummy field members from the coil Winding machine to the coil transferring machine and back to the coil winding machine. Specifically:

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a portion ofthe coil winding machine including mechanism to index the arbors and agportion of a ramp used in conveying arbors to the winding machine.

United lStates PatentO FIGURES 4 is an enlarged perspective View of a portion of the winding machine enclosed within the circular line 4 ofFIGURE 3.k

FIGURE 5 is an endview'of the stator assembling machine as viewed in the direction of the lines 5-5 of FIG `URE l and shows a portion of the apparatus for trans- .ferring arbors from the coil winding machine to a guide track, an end view of a car used to move the arbor from the winding machine to the-coil transferring machine and a side view ofthe return ramp shown in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is an-elevationalview of the apparatus 'for transferring the arbor from the Winding machine to the guide track as viewed in the direction of yarrows 6-6 of FIGURES 1 and 5.

FIGURE 7is an elevational view of a portion `of an arbor depositing arm, as viewed in the direction of arrows 7 7 in FIGURE 6. Y

FIGURE 8 is an elevational view of a portion of the guide track and mechanism for conveying thearbor from the winding machine to the coil transferring `machine Y along the guide track, as viewed in the direction of the arrows 8-8 of FIGURE l.

, FIGURE 9 is an elevational view of the car and an as sociated pivoted arm forming `a portion ofthe mechanism of FIGURE 8 when positioned at one end of `the guide track, as viewed in the direction of arrows 9 9 in FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 10 is an Yelevational view, as viewed inthe direction of arrows Ill-10 or" FIGURE l, illustrating a portion of the arbor conveying mechanism including a tailstock used in indexing the arbor through and beyond the coil'transferringrmachine i FIGURE 11 isV an elevational View with portions broken' away of a Yportion of the apparatus illustrated in FIG- URE 10. Y Y Y FIGURE 12 is a cross sectional View of the tailstock shown in FIGURES l0 and 11. Y

FIGURE 13 is an elevational View of mechanism used in returning the empty arbor from the coil transferring mechanismto the winding machine as viewed in the direction of arrows 13-13 in FIGURES 1 and 5.

FIGURE 14 is a side view of a mechanism used to place an arbor onto a` return ramp and constitutes a side View of a portion ofthe mechanism shown in FIGURE 13.

FIGURE 15 is a'partial sectional view of a stop or brake mechanism used in association with 'the return ramp.

FIGURES 16 through 24 show details of the mechanisms for conveying and positioning the stator frames. Specically:

FIGURE 16 is a front elevational view of the stator frame conveying and positioning mechanisms as viewed in the direction of `arrows 16p-16 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 17 is an elevational View of a stator indexing mechanism as viewed in the direction of arrows 17-17 of FIGURE 1.

Y FIGURE 18 is a side view Yof the indexing mechanism shown in FIGURE 17. l

FIGURE -19 is an elevational view of Ya first transfer head used to convey a stator frame from the Astator indexing mechanism to the coil transferring machine as viewed in the direction of arrows 19-19 of FIGURE l.

FIGURE '20 is a cross sectional View Yof a portion ofA i FIGURE 1, used to convey a stator frame from the coil transferring machine to the wedge inserting machine.

f Patented J-ulyr, 1965.l

. E FIGURE 22 is a cross sectional view of the second transfer mechanism taken along the lines 22-22 of FIG- URE 21.

FIGURE 23 is a side view of the second transfer head -as viewed in the direction of arrows 23--23 of FIG- URE 2l.

FIGURE 24 is a front view of the second transfer mech- Y the manner in which the dummy members are indexed through a stator frame and the coils transferred from the dummy members to the stator frame.

FIGURE 28 is a schematic View illustrating a coil of wires being Wound upon a coil form and another coil of wires transferred from the coil form to coil receiving slots in a dummy member.

FIGURE 29 is a schematic View illustrating the relationship between the coil-receiving slots in a dummy member and the stator slots.V

STATOR AND METHOD Referring to FIGURES 25 and 25a, which show a ringshaped stator frame S having thirty-six inwardly directed slots 502, the coils for a twelve pole, three phase alternator may be arranged as follows.

Six coils C1 form the irst phase. These lie in the bottom of equally spaced pairs of slots S02. Thus, each coil C1 straddles two slots 502 and is separated from the immediately adjacent coils Cl by two slots. Six coils C2 form the second phase windings.V These are similarly equally spaced about the circumference of the stator. However, these coils must be displaced by 120 electrical degrees, or mechanical degrees, from the tirst phase coils. Since there are thirty-six slots, the distance between the slots is 10. Accordingly, the ends of the coils C2 are deposited a distance of two slots away from the corresponding ends of the coils C1. Therefore, one end of each coil C2 overlies a portion of a coil C1, while the other end of each coil C2 lies in the bottom of a slot 502. Six coils C3, forming the third phase, are then deposited such that their ends are displaced by 240 electrical degrees from the corresponding ends of the C1 coils. This involves a shift in position of 40 mechanical degrees from the C1 coils. Accordingly, one end of each coil C3 overlies a coil C2 while the other end overlies a coil C1.

The coils may be separated from the stator slots 502 by insulating strips 504 snugly retained within each of the stator slots 502. To further insulate the coils from the stator frame and to retain the coils within the stator slots, strips of coil retaining wedges 506 are inserted within the top, that is the radially innermost portion, of the stator slots 502.

The coils C1 forming the rst phase are wound from` a continuous strand or supply of wire. The coils C2 and C3 are similarly wound from continuous strands of wire. The coils forming each phase are thus interconnected by lead wires 508, but the windings for the three phases are separate. In the past, following well known prior art practice, the adjacent coils of each phase, such as coils Cla and Clb in FIGURE-25, would normally be reversely wound and the sides of the adjacent coils would overlap within a stator slot. The overlapping sides of two adjacent coils would form a single pole. There thus would be as many coils as poles in each phase. However, in accordance with this invention, the coils Cla and C15 along with the remaining C1 coils are wound in the same directionrand the sides of adjacent C1 coils do not overlap. Since the coils are wound in the same direction, the currents induced in the coils will ow through all the coil conductors in the same direction. Accordingly, alternate poles will be formed at the sides of each coil that pass through the stator slots 502. Thus referring to the coil Cla in FIGURE 25, the conductors in the coil sides passing through the stator slot designated SilZa may be said to form one pole while the conductors passing through the slot designated 501th form another, opposed pole. In other words, each C1 coil side provides a pole and there is one C1 coil for each pair of poles. Accordingly, rather than the six coils C1 forming six poles, the six C1 coils form twelve poles. Since only one-half the usual number coils are used in this construction, each coil must contain twicer the number of turns per coil used in the past for the same current requirements.

As noted before, each coil C1 straddles two slots 562 and is separated from the immediately adjacent coils Cl by two slots. lThus, each coil C1 spans four slots. Each of the C2 and C3 coils similarly span four slots. Since the coils CZ and C3 are spaced from the coils C1 by 120 electrical degrees and 240 electrical degrees, respectively, or in other words 20 and 40 mecahnical degrees respectivly, there is one coil side in each stator slot 592. Of course, the six coils C for each phase must be equally spaced by 60 about the circumference of the stator. This information may be advantageously used when designing other three phase -stators having different numbers of poles. For example, an eight pole, three phase stator made in accordance with the scheme outlined above would employ four coils for the iirst phase spaced equally by about the circumference of the stator frame. Again the coil span could be four slots. The coils forming the second and third phases would be similarly disposed but shifted electrical degrees and 240 electrical degrees respectively from the trst set of coils. Since there are three sets of coils for the three phases, each set comprising four coils, there are twelve coils altogether. These twelve coils would be placed into a stator frame containing twenty-four slots. Similarly, for a sixteen pole, three phase stator, there would be eight coils for each phase equally circumferentially spaced at 45 intervals about a stator frame having forty-eight coil-receiving slots.

The arrangement of coils in the stator slots described above lends itself to a novel method of mechanical insertion Aof coils. YRather thanwinding the coils C1, C2 and C3 directly on the stator frame S, the coils are rst deposited on a plurality of dummy field members 36 (see FIGURES 26, 27 and 28), there being one member 36 for each phase. Thus, for winding the twelve pole, three phase stator described above, three cylindrical mandrels or dummy members 36a, 38b and 36C are iixedly attached to a common Varbor 34 as by means of keys 510 (FIG- URE 26). Each dummy tield member 36 has six coil receiving portions 512 equally spaced about its periphery. The coil-receiving portions 512 on each of the members 36a, Seb and 36C are aligned one behind the other. Y

Each coil-receiving portion 512 is dened on its sides by a pair of parallel coil-receiving slots 514, each pair of parallel slots 514 being parallel to the radius extending between the slot pair. The coils C1 are deposited in the member 36a, the coils C2V in the member Sb and the coils C3 in the member 36C. The center of each portion 512 is cut out to form a cavity 516 in which a pair of blocking plates 518 are pivotally mounted. The blocking plates 518 are spring biased by means, not shown in the drawings but described in detail in my copending application, Serial No. 48,081, tiled in the United States Patent Olce August S, 1960, entitled Coil Winding Machine, whereby a frange 520 on each plate projects over its adjacent slot 51d near the periphery of the dummy member. The lower faces of the anges 520 are sloped downwardly and inwardly to the center of the coil-receiving portion 512 to provide a cam surface 522. As a coil is removed from the portion 512, the top surface of the coil cams the blocking plates 516 out or position. Thus, while the blocking plates 516 are biased to hold the coils Within the slots 514, the plates may easily be pivoted to open the slots when it is desired to remove the coils. A pair of spacer bars 524 are located on each side of each coil-receiving portion 512 adjacent the coilreceiving slots 514. The spacer bars 524 provide a gap between a coil loaded in the slots 514 and the sides of the coil-receiving portions 512. When it is desired to remove a coil from the dummy member, as will be described below, mechanical iingers may approach the coil near the center of the dummy member and extend underneath the coil between the coil and the sides of the coil-receiving portion 512.

In order to load the dummy members 36 with coils, coils of wire are rst wound onto coil-receiving forms such as those schematically indicated at 530 in FIGURES 2 and 28. As described in my aforementioned copending application, Serial No. 48,081, coils may be wound on each of the three coilreceiving forms 538 simultaneously by a mechanism forming part of a coil winding machine, which machine is designated A in this application. After a coil having a desired number of turns has been Wound -upon a frame 530, it is shoved inwardly into the slots 514 in a dummy member. As described in said application, Serial No. 48,081, the coils on the three forms designated at 530 in FIGURE 2 herein may be simultaneously transferred to corresponding coil-receiving slots 514 in the three dummy members 35a, 36h and 36C mounted on the common arbor 34. After three coils have been so transferred, one to each of the dummy members, the arbor 34 is indexed or rotated by `60" so' as to present a second coil-receiving portion 512 on each of the three dummy members in position to receive a set of coils from the coil forms 53d. At or about the same time, of course, three new coils are wound upon the coil-receiving forms 5310. This process is continued until each of the coil-receiving portions S12 on each of the dummy members are loaded with coils. As mentioned above, the center Iof each portion 512 is cut out to provide a cavity 516 for a pair of blocking plates 518. Suitable tangs, not shown'herein but described in application Serial No. 48,081, are mounted forwardly of each coil-receiving form 530 for engaging the blocking plates 518 and pivoting them out of a slot blocking position when the coils are transferred from the coil forms 530 to the coil-receiving slots 514 in the dummy members 36.

After coils have been loaded in Veach of the coil-receiving slots 514 of each of the dummy members 36 on an arbor 34, the arbor is removed from the winding machine A. The dummy members 36 are then indexed through a stator frame S, as schematically illustrated Vin FIGURE 27. After the first dummy member 36a is placed con#V centric within a stator frame, as indicated in the left portion of FIGURE 27, the C1 coils are transferred from the dummy member 36a to the coil-receiving slots 514. The specific orientation ofthe dummy member 36a with respect to the stator frame is shown in FIGURE 29. Each of the coils C1 are preferably transferred from the dummy member 36a tovthe stator slots simultaneously. This operation may be performed by a mechanism described in copending application, Serial No. 53,801, tiled in the United States Patent Office, September 2, 19,60, entitled Coil Transferring Machine. This machineis not described in detail herein but is generally shown in FIG- URES l and 2, for example, and is designated by reference character B. After the coils C1 forming the lirst phase of the three phase windings are inserted into the stator slots 502, the dummy member 36h is positioned concentric Within the stator frame. Before the coils C2 are transferred from the dummy member Sb to the stator frame slots, the stator frame is rotated by a predetermined amount, in this case by as indicated by the centering lines 532, 532er in FIGURE 27. By so rotating 6 the stator, the C2 coils then are positioned by 20 mechanical degrees from the C1 coils. The coils C2 are then transferred from the dummy member 36h to the stator slots. The same operations are repeated for placing the coils C3 into the stator slots. Again the stator must be rotated by 20, as indicated by the centering lines 532a and 532!) in FIGURE 27. Mechanism capable of rotating the stator frame by 20 each time a new dummy member is placed in a position concentric With the stator frame is described in my said copending application, Serial No. 53,801.

As described above, each pair of coil-receiving slots 514 are parallel to one another and parallel to the radius extending between the slot pair. The coil-receiving forms 530 in turn may have parallel sides which, when a dummy member 36 is placed in position to receive coils from a form 586, extend colinear with the internal sides of the slots 514. While the sides of the coil-receiving forms 530 may be parallel one to the other, a slight taper toward the end of the form adjacent the dummy member is desirable so that the coils may more easily be removed from the coil form. In any event, a coil C may be removed from the coil form 580 to the coil-receiving slots 514 in the dummy members with a minimum of distortion of the wires forming the coil. To transfer the coils to the stator slots, as indicated in FIGURE 29, the coil-receiving slots 514- areregistered substantially centrally of pairs of the stator slots 502. When the coils are transferred from a dummy member 36 to a stator S, the coils are expandedin length but attened or squeezed in their width. The expansion in length is not substantial and is gradual since the coil sides are cannned by the sides of the stator slots. Thus, the coils may be transferred to the stator slots with no appreciable damage.

The method described above is ideally suited for automation techniques. In the past, it Vhas been common practice to wind coils directly into the stator slots by mechanism capable of .threading wire through the slots, the mechanism and/or the stator passing through a variety of compound movements to properly layer the Wire into the stator slots. Where dummy members have been used in the past, the wires have been layered directly into the dummy member slots. Again, complicated mechanisms must be used to layer the wires. Not only have the prior art mechanisms been complicated, the Winding operations were not always as fast as desirable. With the method provided herein,.however, iers, not shown, may be rapidly rotated to Wind coils onto the forms 530. A suitable er mechanism for Winding coils on each of the three forms 530 simultaneously is disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 48,081. Also as described in said application, Serial No. 48,081, three coils C may be transferred to the three dummy members 36 simultaneously. Since the dummy members 36a, 36h and 36e are mounted on a common arbor 34, they may be rotated simultaneously to present Vempty pairs of coilreceiving slots 514 to the forms 530. As described above, a dummy member 36 loaded with coils may be placed Within a stator frame and all of the coils for a single phase are removed simultaneously. Thus, there are a plurality of simultaneous operations possible. Each of the operations may be performed rapidly with comparatively simple and accordingly durable mechanisms.,

The basic method described immediately above may be performed by a variety of apparatus. The remainder of lthis description is directed to a suitable form of apparatus embodying numerous novel features which practice the above method and continuously and automatically assemble completed stators.

, APPARATUS Referring to FIGURE 2 wherein the overall operation of a machine made inlaccordance With this invention is schematically illustrated, it has been found advantageous to serially pass the stator frames along a path which is are stopped at various working stations.

substantially transverse to the path of movement of the arbors 34. As the frames S move along their path, they In addition to the working station at the coil transferring machine B, the frames S are moved in the direction of the thin line arrows through an insulating machine I, an indexer D, a wedge inserting machine E and a coil former F. The details of the insulating machine I and the coil former F are immaterial and form no part of this invention. It should be noted, however, that the slots in the stator frames S are provided withinsulating strips 564 by the insulating machine I. The stator frames may be introduced to the machine I and pass from the machine I along a trough (FIGURE 1). There are numerous insulating machines capable of placing insulating strips into stator frame slots. For example, the machine I could be similar to that described in U.S. patent application, Serial No. 727,728, iiled April lO, 1958, by John M. Biddison, which application is assigned to me. Similarly, the details of the coil former F may be conventional and form no part of this invention. Fundamentally, the coil former F comprises a pair of platens 42, 44 between which a stator frame that has been loaded with coils is placed. The platens 42, 44 are moved relatively one toward the other-to press or form the coils into a desired configuration for use in an alternator. After the coils are formed by the former F, the assembled stator is released. It may then roll down a trough 45 (FIGURE 1) and into a hopper (not shown). Thus, simple troughs may be used for conveying the stator frames to the indexer D and away from the former F. The indexer D and the apparatus for conveying'and positioning the stator frames between the indexer D and the former F will be discussed further under the subheading Stator Frame Positioning.

- The movements of the arbors 34 are separate from but coordinated with the movements of the stator frames S. Briey, an arbor is indexed about its own axis to occupy a predetermined rotary position, as will be described with reference to FIGURE 3 below. After the coils C are loaded onto the dummy field members 36, the arbor 34 is moved in the direction of the open arrows in FIGURE 2 from the winding machine A to a forward path 46 and along the forward path to the coil transferring machine B.

The arbors are then indexed through the machine B. The coils on each of the three dummy members 36 on each arbor 34 are transferred into a single stator frame S. The arbor 34 is then indexed beyond the machine B along the forward path to a ramp 50. The arbors 34 roll down the ramp Sil to a return path 48 in the direction indicated by the cross hatched arrows in FIGURE 2. Subsequently, the arbors move along the return path 48 to a ramp 52 down which the arbors roll back to the Winding machine A. Apparatus for conveying and positioning the arbors 34 are described in detail immediately below.

Annen PosrrroNING Referring to FIGURES l, 3 and 4, the winding machine A includes a pair of identical, opposed discs 30 mounted on a pair of opposed upright support panels S4 which are interconnected by a shaft 513 mounted'coaxially with the discs 30. A pair of guide `shelves 53 providing a continuation of a pair of rails 69 forming the ramp 52 are mounted upon the opposed support panels 54. Only one disc 3@ and one shelf 5S are visible in FIGURE 3 and only one disc 36 will be described herein. When an arbor has rolled down the rails 60 onto the shelves S8, the ends of the arbor 34 fall into a pocket 62 which is formed by a sloping side 54 (FIGURE 3) of a notch 66 cut in the disc 39 and one side of an abutment e8 mounted on the other side of the notch 66. There are three pockets 62 in each disc Sti. A locking pawl 70 is pivotally mounted over the pocket 62 and spring biased into engagement with the periphery of the arbor 34. A key slot 72 is provided centrally of the locking pawl 'iti overlying the pocket 62. The key slot 72 is adapted to receive a key '74 c projecting outwardly from one end of the arbor shaft, as shown most clearly in FIGURE 4. To insure that the key 74 is locked within the key slot 72, the arbor is provided with an indexing head 76 upon which are mounted a plurality of indexing studs or rollers 7 3. An arbor indexer Si? is mounted centrally of a base plate S2 to which the upright side panels 54 are attached., The arbor indexer Sil includes a bracket 34 upon which a vertically oriented ratchet pawl 86 is slidably mounted. The ratchet pawl 86 is reciprocated up and down by means of a hydraulic or pneumatic indexer actuator 83 which projects beneath the base plate. Suitable sensing means (not shown) may initiate operation of the indexer actuator 33 when an arbor falls into the pockets 62. The actuator 53 continues reciprocation until the key '74 is locked Within the key slot '72. After the arbor is locked by the locking pawl 7?, the ratchet pawl 8i? can no longer rotate the arbor shaft and a second sensing means (not shown) stops the operation of the actuator.

After an arbor 34 is locked in position with respect to the discs Si?, the discs 33 are automatically rotated or indexed to place an arbor in a winding position 34a indicated in phantom lines in FIGURE 3. The indexing1 of the discs 3@ and other operations of the coil winding machine A are fully described in my aforementioned application, Serial No. 48,081. While the coils are being .wound upon the coil-receiving slots of the dummy field `iember 36, the specific orientation of the arbor is under the control of the apparatus in the coil Winding machine. Consequently, the arbor occupies a predetermined orientation when it reaches an output position 34h due to continued indexing of the discs 3d. The arbor is then transferred to and deposited in a guide track 9u by a depositing mechanism which will now be described.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, the upright support panels 54 are provided with elongate slots 92 adjacent the output position 34b of the transfer discs 30. As shown in FIGURES 1 and 6, a rotatable transverse shaft 94 is journalled in a pair of support plates or brackets 96 upon a support table 97. The plates 96 extend parallel to the side support panels 54 of the winding machine A. A pair of arbor depositing arms 98, 109 are ixedly mounted on the opposite ends of the shaft 94. The upper ends of the arms 98, 101i are provided within aligned apertures to slidably receive a pair of arbor clamping rods 162, 104. The arms 9S, 10@ may be pivoted about an axis extending through the shaft 94 to position the rods 192, 1'94 within the elgonate slots 92 by apparatus to be described later. Both rods 162, 104 may, after entering the slots 92, be moved into an arbor clamping position by means of hydraulic arbor clamp actuators 166 operating through a toggle mechanism 168 and a rotatable connection 11d at the outer ends of the rods 102, 104. The rod 192, shown to the left in FIGURE 6, is provided with an enlarged head 112 which engages within a socket (not shown) in the left side of the arbor 34. The rod 104, shown to the right, is similarly provided with a pair of prongs 114 adapted to engage cooperating sockets (not shown) in the right end of the arbor. Thus, an arbor 34 may be held in a iixed rotary position with respect to the arbor clamping rods1tl2, 164. The actuators 106 for the clamping rods 162, 104 are mounted by brackets 116 upon the arbor depositing arms 98, 104i whereby the actuators 106 occupy a fixed position with respect to the arms 98, 100. After the acuators 106 have been energized, whereupon the enlarged head 112 and prongs engage the sockets within the ends of the arbor, the transverse shaft 94 and the depositing arms 98, 100 are rotated, as best seen in FIGURE 5, by means of a hydraulic or pnumatic depositiing actuator 118 having a piston rod 126 attached to a yoke 122 at the base of the depositing arm 98 beneath the transverse shaft 94. Thus, as the piston rod 12hh moves to the left as viewed in FIGURE 5, the depositing arms 98, 10G and accordingly the arbor 34 are rotated about an axis extending through t9 the transverse shaft 94 in the direction of the solid arrows shown in FIGURE 5. Upon continued rotation of the depositing arms 98, 1611, the arbor engages and is deposited on .the guide track 90.V The arbor clamp actuators 106 then are energized to slide the arbor clamping rods out of engagement with the arbor.l Subsequently, the depositing arms 9S, 160 are rotated back to their initial position under control of the actuator 118 to pickv up the next arbor positioned at 34b. For convenience, the support for the various mechanisms will be referred to as the support table 97 throughout this description. The supports may be a plurality of raised channel members, as illustrated in the drawings, or any other suitable structure.

To control the orientation of the arbors, that is to deposit an arbor 34 in predetermined orientation upon the guide track 91%, a counter rotating gear mechanism 124 (FIGURES 6 and 7) is coupled with the arbor clamping rod 104. Referring to FIGURE 7, the counter rotating gear mechanism 124 includes a semi-circular counter gear 126 which is iixedly attached to the support bracket 95. An idler gear 12S is journalled to a bracket 130 mounted upon the arbor depositing arm 100. The idler gear 128 is engaged with the counter gear 126 and with a drive gear132 that is splined to the arbor clamping rod 104. A housing 134 on the depositing arm 106 restrains the drive gear 132 from linear movement while the rod 164 is moved into and out of engagement with an arbor 34. With the gear mechanism 124, the arbor always occupies a predetermined rotary position with respect to the depositing arm 1G11.

A plurality of guide rods 138 are xedly mounted upon the rotatable transverse shaft 94. The wires forming the coils on the dummy field member 36 are severed by a plurality of cutters (not shown) driven by actuators 14) (FIGURE l) mounted on top of the coil winding machine. As vthe arbor 34 rotates about its axis while being transferred to the guide track 9d, the severed ends of coil wires strike the guide rods 138. Accordingly,'the severed ends of the wires are bent by the rods 138 into a position closely adjacent the dummy members 36.

After an arbor has been Vdeposited on the end of the guide track 9i) adjacent the winding machine A, as described above, it is moved along the guide track to the coil transferring machine Bj As shown in FIGURES 1 and 5, the guide track 99 includes a base member 142 and a pair of side supports 144 having arcuate upper surfaces for engagement with the periphery of the dummy members 36. Thefbase member 142 has a keyway 146 therein adapted to receive Va key 147 (FIGURE/26) on each of the dummy members. As best shown in FIG- URE l0, the guide track 90 is supported by struts 14S on the support table 97 and its forward end 90a terminates short of the transferring machine B. Since the arbor will not be supported by the guide track 90 throughout the entire distanceto `the machine B, the near end of the arbor (as viewed in FIGURE l) is held downwardly by a saddle clamp 156 mounted on a pivotal saddle arm 152 as shown in FIGURE 8. Thus, the saddle clamp 150 will overcome any tendency the forward port-ion of the arbor has to tilt downwardly once it moves past the forward end 99a of the guide track. To urge the saddle clamp 151B against vthe top portionof the arbor 34, the pivotal arm 152 is angled to provide a downwardly extending portion 152a which is slidably engaged with the guide track base member 142.y A roller 154 may be provided at the end of the' pivotalarm opposite the saddle clamp 150, as shown in FIGURE 8, to provide rolling contact with the guide track. Y

The mechanism for moving an arbor 34 along the guide track 91D comprises a car 155 formed from a car block 158 to which the pivotal .arm 152 is attached by means of a pin 159, as shown in FiGllJ'RhV 5. The car block 158 is mounted upon a car plate 162 having two pairs of depending guide rollers 164 attached theretowhich straddle an elongated guide plate 166 extending parallel but tothe side Vand above the guide track 9i). The car plate 162 in turn is attached by a link 162a to an endless chain 165 tudinally movable piston rod 174. The movement of the piston rod 174 is imited and dampened by a damper 176 mounted on a support bracket 177 Yon top of a pneumatic orv hydraulic actuator 178 which drives the piston rod 174, The damper 176 may be a conventional air or spring damper having a rod 175:1 connected to the piston rod 174Vbythe bracket 179.

A depending switch engaging flange 131i integrally at-V tached to the piston rod actuates switch arms 131 at both ends of the piston rod travel. The switch arms 151 control suitable circuitry for reciprocating the piston rod 174 and, accordingly, the rack 172.

The arbor clamping arm 152 is pivoted to the car block 15S so that it may be pivoted out of the path of an arbor 34 to be deposited on the guide track 99. As shown in FGURESS and 9, Va cam bracket 182 having a cam surface 182e is attached to a strut 17051 in the path of movement of the roller 154. Upon return of the car 156 from the transferring machine B, the roller 154 moves past engagement with Vthe guide track and engages the cam y surface 132:1 whereupon the saddle at the vforward end of the armV is raised up and out of the path of movement of the next arbor to come from the winding machine A. Of course, upon a subsequent forward stroke of the car, the roller 154 again engages the guide track 91) whereupon the saddle clamp 159 engages an arbor in the guide track. Note in FIGURES that the forward portion of the arm 152 is angled to abut against the reamost dummy field member 36C so that the` arm positively engages the arbor to move it toward the transferring machine B. Y Y

When the arm 152 tirst pivots downwardly into engagement with an arbor 34 in the guide track,` its' momentum may be such as to push the back end of the arbor downwardly. If this occurred, the arbor might jump out of alignment with the guide track t). Accordingly, the arm 152 is provided Vwith a transversely extending iiange 183 which supports a depending adjustable stop pin 184 adapted to engage the top surface of the car plate 152 when the roller 154 is engaged with the guide track. By properly adjusting the depth of the stop pin 134, the saddle clamp snugly engages they arbors 34 in the guide track withoutthe danger that the saddle clamp 15) will force the back of the arbor downwardly.

.Vith the structure described immediately above, an arbor 34 may be moved aiong the forward path 45 from a position adjacent the Winding machine A to a position in which the forward portion of the arbor projects within an opening in the machine B. `As its projects within the opem'ng, the forward portion of the arbor 34 is clamped within a tailstock mechanism 19t) shownmost clearly in FGURES l0, l1 and 12. After the tailstock clamps the Y arbor, the Vcar 155, of course, is returned to its'FIGURE 1 position in preparation for the next arbor'.

As shown in FIGURES 10 and l1, the tailstock 190 is supported upon a carriageY 191 having opposed pairs'of depending flanges 192 to which pairs of rollers 193 are mounted for rolling engagement with a horizontal support plate 194 mounted on top of a bed 195. As shown in FIGURE ll, Va central groove 196 is located in the support plate 194'to provide a guide for a pin 197 projecting downwardly from the carriage 191. A hydraulic or pneumatic actuator 198having an elongated piston Vrod 159 is mounted beneath the support plate 194. The piston rod 199 is connected by a bracket 26th to the carriage 191 for 1 I` driving the carriage from one end of its bed 195 adjacent the machine B to the other end of the bed. The position of the tailstock 190 with respect to the machine B is controlled and sensed by a plurality of sensing switches 201:1 through 291i mounted on the side of the bed 195 which are engaged by a ange 282 depending from the side of the carriage 191. Initially, the tailstock 19t) occupies the position indicated by full lines in FIGURES 10 and 11.

When an arbor enters the machine B, as described above, the tailstock is moved forwardly, thatwisto the left as viewed in FlGURE 10, to the machine B, whereupon the forward portion of the arbor .is received within a socket 203 (FIGURE 12). A locating rod 204 extends axially through the tailstock socket 203. The locating rod 29d-is slidable within a bearing 205 so that as the forward portion of the arbor enters the socket 203, the locating rod 204 is forced rearwardly, that is to the right as viewed in FIGURES 10, 1l and 12. The function of the locatingrod 294 will be described later. When the forward portion of the arbor extends completely within the socket 203, an internal locking clamp 206 is pressed against the arbor by an actuator 267 mounted on top of the socket 2tl3. Note that the socket 203 includes a keyway 293m for receiving the keys 74 (FIGURE 4) on the arbors 34.

After an arbor is clamped to the tailstock 19t),V it is moved to the right to locate the forwardmost dummy member 36acentrally of the machine B and accordingly within the stator frame S clamped therein. To accurately locate the position of the tailstock 190 with respect to machine B for indexing the dummy members 36 therethrough, three transverse stop bars 203er, 2ti8b and 208e are mounted within the tailstock bed 195 as shown in FIGURE 1l. A stop actuator 269 is mounted on a bracket 21u carried by the carriage 191. The actuator 2519 is connected by a pivoted link 211 to a right angled stop member 212, one leg of which is pivoted to the link 211, the other leg being pivoted to the bracket 2013. As shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 1l, when the actuator 209 is energized, the right angled stop member 212 is moved downwardly to engage one of the transverse bars 2118.

No attempt is made herein to describe the functions of Iall the various sensing switches used in this machine since persons skilled in the art may design adequate circuitry for sensing the position of parts and energizing the actuators. could initiate a sequence of operations in which the coils `are transferred from the three dummy members 36 and the angled stop member 212 is raised to permit continued movement of the tailstock 190 to index the dummy members 36 through the machine B. The switches 291C and 21e could energize mechanism within the machine B to rotate the stator from S therein with respect to the dummy members 36, for the reasonsy discussed above in relation to FIGURE 27.

The sensing switch 201g is engaged to release the internal tailstock clamp 265. The sensing switch 201k may control the operation of an arbor support actuator 213 that is shown in FIGURES 10 and 11 and will be described later. Finally, the first and last sensing switches Zilla and 261i may be used to control the tailstock drive actuator 198. Thus, it is seen that the movements of the tailstock 190 may be completely under the control of the various sensing switches 261. The controlled movements of the tailstock 190 are such as to sequentially place the three dummy members 36a, 36b and 36e into a position concentric with a stator frame clamped within the machine B.

Up to this point, the manner in which the car 156 moves an arbor 34 to the machine B and the manner in which the tailstock 190 indexes an arbor 34 through and beyond the machine B have been described. A stator frame transfer head 37@ also engages each arbor 34 to push it through the machine B when the last dummy member 36e iS As examples, the switches 2Mb, 201d and 201]:

12 located within the stator frame held `in` the machineB. The transfer head 376 pushes from the rear end of the Iarbor'3fi at the same time the tailstock pulls from its forward end. The purpose and structure of the transfer head 37 t) and its engagement with the arbors Will be discussed later.

As noted above, the sensing switch 261g may be used to release the tailstock clamp 266. It is essential that the clamp 2136 be released before the tailstock completes its movement to the right since the locating arm 204 abuts against a stop pin 214 mounted on Va bracket 215 at the end of the tailstock bed. The left end of the locating rod 204, as viewed in FIGURE 12, has an enlarged head 264e which engages the forwardmost portion of the arbor. As the tailstock 190 reaches the end of its rightward travel, the tailstock socket .2@3 slips off the forward end of the arbor due to engagement of the head 23461 with the arbor, Whereuponthe arbor 34 occupies a position shown in dotted lines in rFIGURES 10 and 11. Whilein this position, the arbor is supported by a pair of temporary support arms 21.6 which are iixedly attached to a rotatable rod 21'7 mounted above the bed 195 by a pair of support plates 21S. During most of the travel of the tailstock 19), `the arms 216 extend vertically between the support plates 218, out of the path of the tailstock 196. However, as the tailstock nears the right end lof the bed the sensing switch 20111 is tripped by the flange 202 to energize the actuator 213 which is attached by a link 219 to the rotatable rod 217, thus causing the arms 216 to pivot to a nearly horizontal position to provide a bridge in the path of the tailstock. The arms 216 extend at a slight angle to a horizontal plane, however, so that the arbor rolls onto the ramp 5i), shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. The `arbor subsequently rolls down the ramp 50 to the return path 43 which is located in a plane beneath the plane of the forward path 46.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 13, an arbor 34 is carried along the return path 48 by means of a pair of trucks 220 mounted on a pair of parallel, horizontally extending endless chains 221. Since the oper-ation of the mechanism herein is continuous, there are preferably two or more pairs yof trucks 220 on the chains 221. The chains are drivingly engaged by a pair of sprocket wheels 222 located at each end of the return path 4S. The sprocket wheel 222 at one end is supported by a spindle 222:1 which extends through a pair of support brackets 223 (see FIG- .URE 5). A pulley224 aflixed to the spindle 222a is driven by a V-belt 225 .which in turn is driven by a motor 226. The tension in the V-belt 22S may be adjusted by a pulley 227 Iadjustably mounted on a support member 228 adjacent the motor 226. Similarly, the tension in the chains 221, may be controlled by an adjusting bolt 229 engaged with the axle 230 of the sprocket wheel 2-22 at the right end (FIGURE 13) of the return path.

As shown most clearly in FIGURE 13, one truck 220 of each pair of trucks is supported entirely above the plane of the chains 221 while the other truck has a depending tiange 231 adapted to engage a switch 232 which controls the operation of the sprocket drive motor 226. Thus, the trucks 229 are temporarily halted when an arbor reaches the near end of the return path, as viewed in FIGURE 1. To prevent overtravel of the arbor, a spring biased stop 233 is mounted in an aperture in a supported bracket 234 in the path of movement of the arbor. The spring bias (not shown) is mounted internally of the stop 233.

y When an arbor engages the stop 233, the stop trips a sensingswitch 235 which controls a hydraulic or pneumatic actuator 236 mounted upon aV yoke 237 on a portion of the machine support 97, as shown most clearly in FIGURES 5, 13 and 14. The actuator 236 drives a link 238 which is fxedly mounted centrally of a transverse rod 239, the ends of which are rotatably journalled in a pair of angled support brackets 240. A pair of links 241 are mounted on opposite ends of the transverse rod 239 and support a second transverse rod 242. the outer ends of the second transverse rod 242 are a pair of upwardly extending arbor lifting fingers 243. Upon movement of the actuator piston in thedirection of the arrow a shown in FIGURE 14, the lingers 243 engage an arbor 34 and roll the arbor onto the second return ramp 52. The arbor, as indicated in FIGURE 5, rolls down the return ramp 52 into the position Yin the winding machine Aillustrated in FIGURE 3.

If an arbor were permitted to roll freely down the ramp t) or 52, it Vcould gather enough momentum to either do damage to the trucks 220 in the return path or the winding machine A, or the arbor could jump out of the ramps. Accordingly, a brakeror stop means must be provided for the ramps 50 and 52. In FIGURES 3, 5 and 15, a brake 250 for the ramp 52 has been shown. A similar brake or stop mechanism is provided for the ramp Sti. l

The pair of parallel, sloping rails 60 forming the ramp 52 are supported on struts 252 on the support'table 97. An upwardly extending ange 253 is mounted on the outer edge of each of the rails 60 so that Van arbor 34,

when rolling down the upper surfaces of the rails, tt),V

is confined therebetween. The ramp 50 is similarly constructed. As shown in FIGURES 3 and 15, the brake or stop means 259 includes a pair of stop members 254, one adjacent each rail projecting into the path of an arbor 34 rolling along the rails 60. Only one member 254 is shown herein. Each stop member 254 is connected by .a pivot pin 255 to its adjacent rail 69 whileY A the two stop members 254 are interconnected by'a channel member 256. A stop or brake actuator 257 is pivotally supported by a yoke 258 mounted on the support table 97. The actuator 257 includes a piston rod 256 pivotally connected to a yoke 251 attached to the channel 255 centrally between the stop members 254. A trip lever 252 is pivotally mounted as by a pivot pin 253 to one of the rails 251 slightly above or to the right, as viewed in FIGURE 5, of the stop members254. A switchV actuator 264 is fixedly mounted upon the pivot pin 263 so as normally to lie adjacent a Vswitch arm 265 which is connected by circuit means (not shown) to the stop or brake actuator 257. The trip lever 262 includes a portion 262a which normally extends in the path of an arbor and which is held in that position due to the counterbalancing effect of an angled portion 26212 thereor projecting on the other side of the pivot pin 263. As an arbor rolls down the rails, the trip lever 262 is enfgaged and rotated in a counterclockwise direction, asV

indicated by the arrow a in FIGURE 5, whereupon the switch actuator 254 strikes the switch arm 265 to energize the brake actuator 257. The brake actuator piston 255 moves slowly in the direction of the arrow b in FGURE 15 and causes the stop members 254 to be pivoted about the pin 255. VSince the piston 265. moves slowly, an arbor 34 rolling along the rails 251 will be Mountedat Y `tailstock mechanism 19d-clamps the arbor and indexes it through the machine B.V Of course, the dummy members 36 must be accurately aligned with the stator frame at the machine B. Accurate alignment is assured since the position of the arbor 34, when it is deposited upon the guide track 9i) is predetermined by the gear mechanism 12d in the arborrdepositing arm 159. The predethe return path 43 by means of the trucks 229 and down the ramp 52 and back to the indexing apparatus Si?. Note that the plane of the forward path 46 is above the piane of the return path 48 and that the arbor indexer Sti is below the plane of the return path. Accordingly,

Vit is possible to provide two downwardly sloping ramps 5t?, 52 between the forward path 46 and the arbor indexer 80. Note also that no manual manipulation of the arbor is required and that only a few arbors 34 are necessary to provide a continuous supply of coils to the coil transferringV machine B. In operation, one arbor 34 could be located within the winding machine A While a second arbor 34 is located within the machine B and Y a third arbor 34 travels .along the return path. Thus, with three arbors 34, continuous operation is possible.

temporarily stopped by the stop members 254 before they are pivoted out of the arbor path. After the stop members 254 have been pivoted out of position, the arbor rolling along the rails is free to continueY until it is clamped to the discs Si? in the winding machine A as described above.

In review, with the arbor positioning mechanism de-Y the forward path 46 on the guide track 90 by means ofV the car 155 and inserted into a stator frame S clamped within the transferring machine B. At this point the Gf course, there could be more or less arbors depending upon the speed of operation of the various mechanisms.

STATOR FRAME POSITIGNING As noted before, the simple troughs dit, 45 may be used for conveying the stator frames S to the indexer D and from the former F away from the machine. The indexer D, however, places each stator frame in a predetermined position for insertion intothe machine B. A predetermined orientation of the stator frames S withinV the machine B is required Vsince the slots 552 in each statorV frame must be accurately aligned with the coil-receiving slots 514 in the dummy members 35. Also, the slots in the stator frames must be accurately aligned with a plurality of slots in the wedge inserting machine E as will be described below. Accordingly, a more complex mechauisrn ,is required for conveying and positioning the stator y frames S between the indexer D and the wedge inserting machine E. For this purpose, a plurality of transfer heads 363, 37@ and 42? (FIGURE 16) mounted on pivoted arms are used. The indexer D and the transfer heads will now be described in detail.

Referring to FIGURES 17 and 18the indexer Dis shown asincluding a vertically extending support plate 39@ mounted adjacent the end of the trough d@ byY braces sena on a base plaie saab. A cradle block ser having f an internal arcuatel surface ,36de and a base block 352 mounted on the base of the support plate 55? supports a stator frame` S that has rolled down the trough 4t?. By means of the indexer D, it is desired to orient the stator haine S in a 'predetermined position for pick-up byv the indexing arm 365 'is bent so as to extend through anV aperture 39S located generally centrally of theY support plateV 300. The outer endV of the indexing arm 355 is pivotally attached to` a movable plunger 399 forming 

1. THE METHOD OF WINDING A POLYPHASE STATOR HAVING INWARDLY DIRECTED PAIRS OF SLOTS, SAID METHOD INCLUDING THE STEPS OF WINDING THE COILS FOR EACH PHASE IN SERIATIM, TRANSFERRING EACH OF THE COILS AFTER BEING WOUND INTO FIXED SPACED RELATION WITH RESPECT TO THE OTHER COILS OF THE SAME PHASE AND WITH RESPECT TO THE COILS OF THE OTHER PHASES, TRANSFERRING THE WOUND COILS ARRANGED IN FIXED SPACED RELATION WITH ONE PHASE REGISTERING WITH THE SLOTS IN THE STATOR FOR SAID ONE PHASE, TRANSFERRING THE COILS OF SAID ONE PHASE TO THE STATOR SLOTS, THEN MOVING THE COILS OF A SECOND PHASE INTO REGISTERY WITH THE SLOTS IN THE STATOR FOR SAID SECOND PHASE, TRANSFERRING THE COILS OF SAID SECOND PHASE TO THE STATOR SLOTS AND REPEATING THE OPERATIONS UNTIL ALL THE PHASES HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRD TO THE STATOR. 